Faith without Works is Dead - The Direction of Suffering

By Stephen T. McClard - Complete Article List


James 2:26 - For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

When I was young and growing in my faith, the verse above was always confusing to me.  Do works arise from faith or does faith arise from works?  Here is how I now see this verse:

Faith does not come from works and works do not save the soul.  Faith saves the soul.  A faith that is absent of works is dead.  How can this paradox be understood?

Direction is important.  In life, we can take reward, but suffering follows.  Example: Smoking leads to cancer.  Alternatively, if we seek to suffer for others, reward always follows.  If we work for an education, we get a good job and paycheck.  If we work hard at a job, the paycheck increases over time and our families benefit.  These are all rewards which follow suffering.  Faith is the same when compared.

If a person does works to get reward, does this lead to faith?  If we seek faith first from suffering, What is the result?  

Works can lead to reward if we are giving from faith.  Taking reward is not faith.  This amounts to duplicity since we say one thing and do another.  If we are seeking reward by our works, then we are really after the reward.  If we do works to avoid punishment, then we are again duplicitous.  If we are seeking the supreme good of God by faith, then works are the byproduct.  True reward then follows.

  James 2:26 - For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Agra Bio Linguistics - Concrete Reality Reveals the Hidden God

By Stephen T. McClard - Complete Article List

The Hebrew language has an amazing story to tell.  This is a story of how Eastern concrete thought meets Western abstract reason to reveal the hidden God of the Bible.  The original Hebrew language originates with early Pheonecian pictographs.  From this seed of concrete agriculturally based linguistics, the seed of the Western abstract thought reveals an interesting perspective to consider.  Ancient Hebrew starts with the 22 letters  of the Hebrew alphabet.  From these root letters, the language then morphs into two and three letter roots making up the remainder of the Hebrew language.  These roots then extend to other words like the branches of a tree.  For further information on each letter of the Hebrew language, see the associated links below.  


First, a question:  Why use pictographs to relate information by symbol?  Symbols provide volumes of information in one tiny location.  Symbols are bits of information that store more than the space they occupy.


Aleph (<--Click link for more)

The pictograph for aleph represents the Ox.  This is the strength of work and the strength of the leader of the house.  This represents the chief leader of the house. God is where the Bible starts, but Bet is the letter first used in the Bible.

Beyt

This letter represents the house or tent.  A tent is a temporary dwelling place.  It can be seen as the tent of the nomad or the human body.  The body is the vehicle that is used to sense the wilderness of nature.  The wilderness is a temporary home where work is accomplished and learning takes place.

Gimel

The pictograph is of the foot. This is movement for the purpose of gathering. Gimel represents a group gathering at the water hole.  In John 3, Jesus describes how a person is born again. He gives two ways. We are born into the water.  This is baptism into the material world.  We can also be born into the spirit.  In Ancient Hebrew, water is the same as blood.  Blood is where humans gather (watering hole) to live and work.  Rest and rejuvenation comes from experiencing a drink.  Learning comes from drinking in wisdom.

Dalet

The pictograph for Dalet is of a door.  This is the opening to the tent.  We can see this in the human body as the openings of the tent.  A tent, if you remember, is a temporary dwelling to survive the wilderness.  Remember that doors move back and forth and they also divide one area of the tent from the next.  In ancient times, the tent door was used to gain access to the inside and outside.  It is also the place that the father sat to watch over the flock and family at the same time.

Hey

The letter Hey was used in the Bible when Abram became Abraham.  The letter was added to his name and to his wife's name sari.  When Abram was asked to sacrifice what mattered to him most (Issac / Self), he willingly followed God, even if it meant killing his son.  God stopped him and provided a replacement sacrifice.  Jesus is that replacement for us.  In the end, Abraham received a new name for his faith.  This faith was demonstrated.  Abraham was able to keep his son.  The pictograph for Hey is of a man holding his hands out to God in faith.  Hey means, "Behold a great work."  YHVH literally translates, "Behold the Hand, Behold the Nail."

Vav

Vav is the picture of the tent peg. God's name is YHWH.  This is Yod Hey Vav Hey.  A Yod is a hand. God's name means, "Behold the hand, Behold the nail (Peg)." LINK 

Zayin

Zayin is the pictograph of the plow.  This represents the work of pulling the plow by the Ox.  Since the spirit of God resides in us, his work is to plow our soul in the soil of this life. Jesus says, "You must be born again."  The wheel turns as the ox pulls the cart, as Buddha says.  The plow cuts the soil so the crop can be harvested.  In the case of humans, we are planted in the garden of Genesis.

Hhet

Hhet is the pictograph of the wall of the tent.  In ancient times, the tent was divided between the husband and wife and the family.  This keeps each hidden from each other.  This can also be seen as the veil of the temple.  The body is the temple of God's spirit and the veil keeps the soul from remembering and seeing the spirit directly.  This is so we live by faith and not fact.  The sons live in faith that the parents are on the other side of the wall.

Tet

Tet represents the basket.  This is a basket that can be filled and holds the contents of what is harvested.  The basket can represent the body of man or the mind of man as he learns from God in the wilderness.  The harvest is knowledge form the example of nature.  God reveals himself in nature and man is filled with this knowledge. Confucius said "I hear and I forget.  I see and I learn.  I do and I understand."

Yud

Yud is the hand.  This is one of the letters in the name of God (YHWH).  The hand does the work as the feet move the body.

Kaph

This is the pictograph of the open hand or palm.  This represent a bending of the will by guidance.

Lamed

Lamed is the shepherd's crook.  When this is combined with the Aleph (Ox) we get El-God.  God is the ox (strength of the family) leading by the shepherd's staff.  Father is the word that derives from Ox and the tent opening. The strength of the father watches over the tent opening to guard the family inside.

Mem
Mem represents waves of water.  The water is the blood of man.  Water comprises what is necessary for life on earth.  Water also represents the cleansing force of God.  This also represents the sea of life and the storms of life.  The ocean is more than what we see.  We see the surface and waves only.  The ocean of life is more than what is seen at the surface of the water used for baptism into the material reality that God has created.  See this article for a further reference.  LINK

Genesis 1:1  

In the Beginning (Time), God created the heavens (Space) and the earth (Matter). Let there be light (Energy).

Nun

Nun is a pictograph of the seed of life. This is the sprout that germinates and grows to unfold to its essence.  DNA is the essence of all life.  All life is derived from this seed of information.  Information can be saved or lost depending on how it germinates with the soil around it.

Samech

Samech is to pierce or the sharp edge of a sword.  This pictograph is used to represent the consuming fire of the flaming sword of God in Genesis 3.  God cuts our pride away.


Ayin

This is the eye. Seeing and watching for knowledge and wisdom.

Pey

The mouth to speak. Communication.

Tsade

This is the trail or path we take in life by the leading of the spirit. Either to destruction or salvation.  The Good shepherd leads us as we walk together in the garden of life.

Quph

The revolution of a circle. Zero represents equity and -1 +1 represent revolving around infinity. Good and evil represents the light as it is divided form the darkness.  More on this here.  LINK

Resh

The head of man.  The opening to man's tent (Body).

Shin

Teeth. Sharp. Hard. To press. Anger, as in gnashing of teeth. 

Tav

The cross, or mark of two sticks. This is the mark of God on man. This is the cross of the sacrifice God makes to us to clear our debt.  LINK

Ghah

The twisted rope of the double helix. DNA

Here are videos to assist you in further study.

Agra Bio Linguistics 

The Name of God - YHWH - "Behold the Hand, Behold the Nail."